winter sunset in California

January on the Ranch

a visual journal

As part of my new blog, my friend suggested I share some of our day to day happenings on the ranch. I thought that would be a fun idea so I decided to create a monthly visual journal with tidbits and highlights.

Mother Nature has been having a little fun with us here in California, making January on the ranch a guessing game from day to day. Will there be rain and mud to wade through to feed the animals or will we be donning shorts and t-shirts for yet another pass at mowing the grass?

A Muddy Day

Fortunately there has been enough rain to get us out of the drought for this year. Our pastures are green which makes both myself and the horses immensely happy. As much as I dislike the cold and the mud (see above), I look forward to cozy January evenings with a fire in the fireplace, a cup of hot chocolate and the sound of rain against the windows. The rain is the magic elixir that brings green to our hills and pastures. To ranchers and farmers (and their animals), green pastures are like gold.

I can’t believe how busy the beginning of this year has been already, and its not even the end of January! Here’s my visual journal for January. We’ve experienced some highs and a couple of lows, but it looks like we’ll enter February on a good note.

Poppy, our barn cat, enjoys sunbathing on the roof.
This old guy colicked badly, scared me but has made a full recovery!
Succulents provide welcome color to the garden.
A beautiful sunset under the rain clouds.

A bald eagle visits the ranch for lunch. Super exciting.
Despite a few freezing nights, some flowers are blooming.
some meaningful words
Unfortunately we lost our sweet goat-dog Lloyd.
We’re so blessed with beautiful sunsets on winter.
Our resident jack rabbit makes a visit to the pasture.
Monster visits his pal Fritz while on one of his recovery walks.
Winter roses.

And while this last little bit didn’t happen on the ranch, it involves my daughter. Her new horse, Blue, is in training a couple hours away so she made a trip up to see him and have a lesson. When she entered his stall he was so excited to see her. We can’t wait for him to come home!

Heather

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3 Comments

  1. Love this! Thanks for sharing! Your photos are amazing and having your story put out there is beyond brave.